As with the emeritus father, so with the Murdochian son ...

 

Essential news for students of the Murdochian way ...

Those who expected the "concerned" and "ethical" side of the family to hold out for truth, justice and the rest of the blather were once again cruelly disappointed, but what did they expect?

It's always been "show me the money" for any Murdoch, and by golly they were shown a tidy pile of loot, enough to sooth any remnants of a conscience. (The pond has always suspected that none of them really gave a hoot, they just wanted a nicely lined holler).

The result will see Lachy, the dullest knife in the drawer, the dimmest bulb in the pack, the authoritarian pig in the re-make of Orwell's Animal Farm, maintain the Emeritus Chairman's desire to stuff the planet, and in particular go on ruining the United States ...

Per the NY Times, explaining how the "respectable" side of the family folded like a pack of straw dogs once they'd done an Arthur and scored a nice little earner...

Inside the Deal Ending the Murdoch Succession Fight, Lachlan Murdoch will take control of a new family trust in a deal worth $3.3 billion, ensuring that his father’s media empire will retain its conservative slant. (*archive link)

The Murdoch family’s epic, decades-long succession battle has reached a multibillion-dollar finale.
Lachlan Murdoch has completed an agreement to secure control of his family’s sprawling media empire for decades to come, the family announced on Monday. The deal ensures that the empire’s various outlets, including Fox News, The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, will remain conservative after his father Rupert’s death. It is valued at $3.3 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
The deal comes months after Rupert and Lachlan’s audacious bid to unilaterally change the terms of the Murdoch family’s irrevocable trust and disenfranchise Lachlan’s oldest siblings, Prue, Liz and James. The bid initially failed in court, but ultimately brought the two sides to the negotiating table.
The agreement gives the 94-year-old Rupert, who built a single Australian newspaper into the world’s most powerful media empire, what he has long sought — to preserve what he has called the “protector of the conservative voice in the English-speaking world” under the leadership of his chosen heir, Lachlan.
Under the terms of the deal, Lachlan’s three oldest siblings will receive $1.1 billion each for all their shares in the empire, according to the person with knowledge of the negotiations. Those shares are currently held in the existing family trust, which will be dissolved. This amounts to roughly 80 percent of the value of their stock at the close of trading Friday.

As for what's what and who's up who ... again per the NY Times:

The Murdoch Succession Fight Is Over. So What Does Lachlan Control?
From Fox News to Tubi to HarperCollins, here’s what is in the media empire that Rupert Murdoch built. (*archive link)

Inter alia ...

Fox Corporation
What’s in it:

Fox News Media
Fox Entertainment
Fox Sports
Contracts with local affiliate stations
Tubi Media Group, which operates Tubi, a free streaming service
What does it earn? Total revenues for the fiscal year that ended June 30 topped $16 billion, a record for the company. Net income was $2.29 billion.
What’s notable:
The television news, broadcast and sports arm of the media empire is by far the more profitable of the two Murdoch companies. It traces its origins to a 1985 deal by Rupert Murdoch to acquire 20th Century Fox, the movie studio.
He built that business into a broadcast behemoth now indelibly tied to politics and culture. Since Memorial Day, Fox News, with its polarizing anchors and right-leaning content, has been the most-watched television network in prime time, according to Nielsen. Advertising revenue for the corporation also grew in the fiscal year that ended in June, increasing by 26 percent to $7 billion.
Another jewel of the portfolio is Fox Sports, which broadcast this year’s Super Bowl and streamed the game on Tubi. The tie-up helped make Super Bowl 59 the most watched of all time, with 127.7 million viewers. Although the network will not air football’s biggest game in 2026, it has secured the rights to broadcast the FIFA men’s World Cup beginning next June. That event’s final game is the most-watched sporting event in the world.
And the Fox Corporation is expanding its reach to more fledgling properties. In June, Fox announced that Tubi, the free streaming service with hundreds of thousands of movies and television episodes, had exceeded 100 million monthly active users. Last month, the Fox Corporation expanded its digital footprint, releasing Fox One, a paid streaming service that includes programming from Fox’s broadcast and cable properties; and in June acquired Caliente TV, a sports streaming service in Mexico.

And here's where the reptiles of the lizard Oz and the hive mind known as Sky Noise down under enter the picture ...

News Corp
What’s in it:

The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications
HarperCollins
The New York Post
Realtor.com
The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun in Britain
The Australian and other newspapers in Australia
What does it earn? Total revenues for the fiscal year that ended June 30 were nearly $8.5 billion. Net income was $648 million.
What’s notable:
Mr. Murdoch entered the U.S. media market in the 1970s with a string of newspaper acquisitions, including The New York Post. A flurry of sales and purchases took place over the next several decades, but a robust portfolio remains: international news, book publishing and digital real estate services.
Under the News Corp umbrella is Dow Jones, an asset that includes The Wall Street Journal and the businesses Risk & Compliance and Dow Jones Energy that provide analysis and risk protection insights. The corporation also provides digital and print news, with publications including The Times and The Sunday Times in Britain. The New York Post announced in August that it would expand in 2026 to include a California newspaper, The California Post.
HarperCollins, the publishing giant, is a big contributor to the business. Book publishing revenues hit $2.1 billion in the year through June, the division’s second-best year for revenue.
And News Corp also has a foot in the housing market, with a majority stake in Move Inc., a real estate listing company that operates Realtor.com. Despite a sluggish year for the housing market in the United States, Realtor.com’s revenue grew for the third consecutive quarter. The company recently announced the acquisition of Zenlist, a service that matches agents to clients in home searches.
News Corp also owns the British tabloid newspaper The Sun, a number of national and regional Australian newspapers and the news channel Sky News Australia.

The news was written up in the lizard Oz by Eric, though the reptiles could barely manage two minutes of fluff-gathering ...

The header: Murdoch family agree to pass News, Fox control to Lachlan Murdoch, The family of Rupert Murdoch have struck a deal where control of his media assets will pass to his eldest son.

The caption: Control of Rupert Murdoch’s media assets, including News Corp, will pass to his eldest son, Lachlan. Picture: Mark Lennihan / AP

The fawning, servile write-up:

The Murdoch family have reached an agreement that will result in control of Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire moving to his eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, rather than dividing it among four children.

There was a snap of the smirking pair, grinning at the thought of planets they could ruin, and countries they could keep on wrecking, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. Picture: Richard Dobso

The $US3.3bn ($5bn) settlement between the siblings will result in the buyout of James Murdoch, Prudence MacLeod and Elisabeth Murdoch’s beneficial stake in News Corp and Fox Corp. The move delivers $US1.1bn to the three siblings and ends their full involvement in the two media companies, including their voting interests.
The change also brings to an end a legal challenge mounted in Nevada in which James, Prudence and Elisabeth had opposed efforts for control to be passed to Lachlan in the event of their father’s death.
The buyout of the three will be partly funded by the immediate sale of 14.2 million B Class News Corp shares and 16.9 million B class shares in Fox Corp held by the Murdoch Family Trust, for a combined value of $US1.4bn.
The three siblings have also agreed to sell their personal holdings in the two media companies and have struck a long term-agreement that prevents them from acquiring shares in News Corp and Fox Corp in the future or forming a consortium with another party in relation to the media companies.
The settlement also involves the creation of new trusts for the benefit of Lachlan Murdoch, and Rupert Murdoch’s two younger children, Grace and Chloe Murdoch.
All the shares currently held by the Murdoch Family Trust in News Corp and Fox Corp will move to a new entity to be controlled by the new trusts. This covers approximately 33.1 per cent of News Corp’s B class shares which have voting rights, and 36.2 per cent of Fox Corp’s B class voting shares. Smaller stakes of non-voting shares in both media companies will also transfer to the new holding company.

There was a logo that interrupted the celebration, but the pond isn't in the pandering business, The settlement will be partly funded by the sale of Fox Corp shares. Picture: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg

Then it was on to the ongoing destruction of the planet ...

The term of the new trusts will be to 2050, and until that time, voting control will rest solely with Lachlan Murdoch, providing long-term control certainty for both companies.
Lachlan Murdoch is currently chair of News Corp. He is also executive chair and chief executive of Fox Corp.
Rupert Murdoch will continue in his role as chairman emeritus of News Corp.
News Corp is the publisher of this masthead and owns titles around the world including The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London and the New York Post. It also owns publisher Harper Collins. Fox Corp is the owner of US cable network Fox News and US free-to-air broadcasting major Fox.
News Corp’s board of directors on Tuesday welcomed the developments. “The leadership, vision and management by the company’s chair, Lachlan Murdoch, will continue to be important to guiding the company’s strategy and success,” the News Corp board said in a statement. Fox Corp’s board also welcomed the move.

Chanticleer wrote it up in the AFR ...

Lachlan Murdoch is buying the family business. That’s a big bet

News and Fox Corp’s No.1 risk is sorted. But the pressure is now almost solely on Lachlan Murdoch (*archive link)

The Murdoch family trust deal blows away the No.1 risk hanging over News and Fox Corporation: what happens when Rupert dies?

Now investors know it goes to the eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, the continuation candidate and Rupert’s anointed one for the next 25 years.

They know the cash cow – Fox News – is safe, the overarching strategy will remain unchanged and there’s no chance of any forced break-up or shutdown of any money-making businesses.

They can also pretty easily work out that Lachlan is cutting a hefty cheque to pay for the privilege.

It looks like about one-third of the $US3.3 billion ($5 billion) settlement comes from News Corp and Fox Corp B class shares, which leaves the other two-thirds of the settlement cheque to come from Lachlan and his side of the transaction. That’s a huge commitment – unlike anything we’ve seen from a major founder/family-controlled shareholder in Australia in public markets in decades. Lachlan is effectively buying the family business.

Lachlan’s LGC HoldCo has borrowed $US1 billion to fund part of that commitment, secured against some of the News and Fox Corp shares, to now be absolutely swimming in News and Fox Corp exposure. There can be no questions about his commitment or where the companies are headed.

Investors will like that, including News Corp’s big Australian backers, which include Ausbil, Perpetual, Airlie Funds Management and Wilson Asset Management. They have met with Lachlan over the years, facilitated by News Corp’s capital markets adviser Aitken Mount Capital Partners. The boutique stockbroker has made no secret that it is firmly in Lachlan’s camp.

Lachlan’s been getting to know these investors a bit better, as we’ve previously reported, making it clear he’s all-in on running News and Fox Corp for decades to come. Tuesday morning’s deal, which gave him control of the new family shareholder group until 2050, proves it.

So, what happens when 94-year-old Rupert, still chairman emeritus of News and Fox Corp, dies? That’s no longer a question, or even a risk. It’s the Lachlan show. He’s the chairman of both companies, he’s got voting rights on the family’s remaining investment (about one-third of News Corp B class shares, which is the voting class), and he’s got the financial disclosure to make sure he’s aligned to investors.

Some of those Australian funds (the ones that can buy US-listed shares) were bidding for News and Fox Corp stock overnight. Investment bank Morgan Stanley had blocks of 14.2 million News Corp class B shares and 16.9 million Fox class B shares, worth about $US1.35 billion combined, to help settle the family agreement. The stock sold was in the US-listed News and Fox Corp.

It marks the end of a messy chapter for the Murdochs, which created uncertainty about their companies’ future control and direction. There were fears, including among Australian investors, that the non-Lachlan aligned siblings (Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth and James Murdoch) would take control of the company and dramatically change its strategy, including potentially dumping the conservative Fox News.

It kicks the succession can 25 years down the road. But could it play out again? Perhaps, but that’s not something that could or should weigh on investors’ minds for years to come.

The settlement dissolves the Murdoch Family Trust, which had 41 per cent of News Corp’s voting shares and 43 per cent of Fox’s; pays out the three dissenting family members $US1.1 billion each, and transfers control of the remaining shares to Lachlan and two other siblings, Grace and Chloe Murdoch (whose mother is Wendi Deng Murdoch).

The selling stockholders are three new trusts, on behalf of the three selling family members, not the Murdoch Family Trust.

Morgan Stanley was selling for those three trusts on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

At the same time, the Lachlan-controlled LGC HoldCo is buying the remaining shares held by the three selling shareholders.

Once the dust settles, Lachlan’s camp will control about 33.5 per cent of News Corp’s voting shares and 36.1 per cent of Fox’s, plus tiny stakes in the non-voting shares.

It’s great for News Corp’s Australian shareholders to have the drama sorted; however, the lingering question is whether it’s also great buying for News Corp chairman Lachlan at a time when traditional media and information businesses, such as News Corp, are pressured by technology and a rise in automation and artificial intelligence.

That’s now all Lachlan’s pressure, not his selling siblings.

The pond would like to fantasise about Lachy doing a "young Warwick", but isn't holding its breath.

For those who can't remember "Young Warwick", there's the tale of the Fairfax decline in The Conversation ...

The rag itself ran a reflection on the story back in June 2021, Warwick Fairfax reports in from his very foreign posting (*archive link):

There was an enjoyable Goulding attached to the folly ...

And there was a re-telling of the folly itself:

It is 34 years since the $2.25 billion privatisation of his 150-year-old family company destroyed his inheritance and plunged the Fairfax media company (which once owned this newspaper) into chaos and later receivership.

But “young” Warwick Fairfax is back. And he is keen to tell everyone - for a price - that he has learnt from his mistakes.

After the debacle, Fairfax hightailed to the US where he lives with his wife Gale and three children. Nowadays he is a management and ethics guru and tells everyone that the Fairfax disaster has been the making of him.

Fairfax runs Crucible Leadership, a self-help consultancy that teaches people about getting beyond failure. Well, if failure is a selling point, he has oodles of it.

His takeover of Fairfax when he was 26 and just prior to the global stock market crash in October ’87. His team of advisers, including businessman Laurie Connell (later jailed), were in line to secure a staggering $100 million fee. After receivership, Kerry Packer and Canadian media tycoon Conrad Black (later jailed) took stakes in the diminished empire.

“Things basically went wrong from the start,” Warwick says. “We had a level of debt that wasn’t sustainable... My goal had been to preserve this 150-year-old family media company for a few generations and what I ended up doing directly led to the company going under. So I had this objective and what I did, in a sense, undermined it.” Only in a sense?

“I lost $2.25 billion in a failed takeover of my family’s 150-year-old media business.”

“What could have broken me started me down the path of a life of significance.”

And so can you, if you want to buy Fairfax’s forthcoming book Crucible Leadership, available from October 19.

Nah, no thanks, never did even turn up in the street library, suggesting no one bothered to buy it, if only to admit an error, acknowledge a waste of time, and then make the best of a bad business by dumping it ...

But the pond would line up to buy Lachy's memoir, possibly titled "Stuck in the outermost layers of Dante's Hell, it being roughly equivalent to the surface of the planet thanks in no small part to Faux Noise and News Corp."

Speaking of crucibles, what was it Arthur Miller wrote?

“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”

Sure, if you don't mind a name that will live in infamy ...

In the meantime, the immortal Rowe nicely summed up proceedings for the AFR ...

It's always in the primordial sludge detail ...